Lauren in Charlotte

Holcomopolis

2009-08-25T09:15:00.002-04:00

Year 3 of teaching has started and I am in a new room (with a smartboard!) and it is more than a new room. It is actually a new country as well! With the help of the 9th grade history teacher, I have decided to create my own country in my classroom and have named it Holcomopolis. The form of government is a holcomopoly and the sole dictator of this country is, that's right, ME, Miss Holcombe. All the students are currently legal residents of Holcomopolis but have the hope and expectation they will one day become citizens of this great land. The first big event in Holcomopolis (other than learning history everyday) will be a flag designing contest. All students can enter a design (all entrants will receive some sort of bonus) and the winning design will be chosen by the dictator and will receive an additional prize of some sort.

Also need to come up with some holidays for Holcomopolis.

Student Question on the 1st day of school: Miss Holcombe, what happens if the residents decide to overthrow the dictator?

My answer: the better question is are you prepared to handle the dire consequences that will most assuredly occur should you so even attempt such a foolish feat?

Student repsonse: silence, followed by nervous eye movement

I think year 3 is going to be the best one yet

europe

2009-06-23T13:41:00.002-04:00

so in just a few short hours I will be on a plane to Prague where I will be for the next almost 3 weeks for a little fun european vacation. I will be in Prague for a week and half and then my mom is flying over to Germany and I will meet her there and then we will travel together for the next week to Brussels, Paris, Munich and then back to Prague. I am really excited, I have always wanted to travel more around Europe and can't believe it is actually here.
I'll try to post some updates and stuff while I am gone.

food fight

2009-06-22T19:34:00.004-04:00

I finished my 2nd year teaching at the end of may and I can't say I miss school at all right now. 2nd year was much better than 1st year and I hope it only keeps getting better. I really liked the group of kids I had and it was sad to say goodbye. A week before school got out I had morning duty in the 8th grade hallway before school started and as I was watching the students come to school and hangout in the hallways I noticed they were a lot quieter than normal and were all whispering to each other. I did my best to inconspicuously listen in and find out what they were talking about but all i found out was that all the 8th graders received a mass text the night before. I didn't find out what the text said though while I was in the hallway but knew it couldn't be good. During homeroom, one of my students asked me, "Miss Holcombe is it true that every year on the last day of lunch the 8th graders have a massive food fight?" I said it absolutely wasn't true and he better make sure that didn't happen. That day was the last day for them to eat lunch at school. I am not usually one to catch on very quickly but I knew then that the mass text was to have a food fight the next day and to bring sticky food. Sure enough, the same student then said, "yeah well I got this text from about 10 different people all saying the same thing to have a food fight today." Way to keep it a secret 8th graders. Don't apply for any kind of undercover job anytime soon.
Of course I instantly get on my computer and email my principal and the other 8th grade teachers to give them a heads up and find out if we should do anything else to keep this from happening. My principal wrote back that a parent had told him the same thing and that we should tell our classes right away that everyone knows about the plan for the fight and that no one better even think about going through with it. So I tell my 1st period class exactly that. The first thing out of their mouths, "how did yall know?!?" um.....try how did we not know? The next thing out of their mouths, "what will happen to us if we do it anyway? will we not be allowed to come back next year" says the kid who doesn't want to be at the school and is hoping he doesn't have to get kicked out.
Lunchtime rolls around and all the kids are on alert. My principal came to lunch that day and stayed with us the whole time just watching the students. All of the students are quieter than normal and keep looking at the teachers and our principal. A couple of kids keep moving from table to table whispering things and we can tell they are trying to figure out if they should go through with it or not. One boy who is smaller and more devious than all the rest is holding a pudding snack pack the whole lunch and looking at it and you can tell he is just dying to throw it on someone but yet he also would like to just eat it too. My principal told the teachers that the first kid to throw anything for us to just get them and yell real loud that they are going to the head of the school. It comes to the end of lunch and time to clean up before we head out to lunch recess. I start bringing trash cans to each of the tables and tell the kids to throw away all their trash. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see the student with the snack pack dart to another student and before I can do anything the pudding has been dumped all over another student. I immediately do the only thing I can think of and that is grab the student who threw the pudding by the arm and yank him with me while at the same time yelling at all the rest of the students to "sit down right now!"
I drag the student out of the gym doors toward the main office of the school and yell at him to sit on the floor by the door and to not move an inch. It is right at this time too that a class of kindergartners is walking by and all their eyes are huge in terror. I walk back into where the 8th graders are eating lunch and that was the end of the fight.
I felt like I had real power for a few minutes. The best part was later hearing all the 8th graders tell everyone else all the things they had planned to do as if they were really cool for having a plan but then completely deflating them by reminding them that they didn't actually do any of the things they had planned so they really weren't that cool.
Maybe next year's 8th graders will go through with the "annual food fight"

wedding!

2009-06-22T19:16:00.005-04:00

It has been awhile and I have a lot to update, so I am doing a bunch of small posts instead of one big one.
My older brother Philip got married back in May in Birmingham, AL and it was just the greatest thing ever. I love my new sister-in-law and it was so fun to have all our family together.

These are a few pictures from the wedding. The one above is just funny to me. The wedding was outside and 30 minutes before people were going to be seated it started pouring rain. Lyndsey was as calm as a person could be though.

This is my younger brother Thomas.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Holcombe

Me and my first sister!

One of my favorite parts of the actual day other than the excitement of my brother getting married was getting to talk to my friend Camille who was one of the photographers for the wedding and in my opinion takes the best pictures ever. She will be my photographer whenever I get married. Don't know how to make things hyperlinks on my blog but visit her blog http://www.scbphotography.blogspot.com/ so see her stuff.

teacher or sister

2009-04-06T10:17:00.003-04:00

this is geography johnny. he is a mini-globe. some students really love geography johnny, some students just want to terrorize him. for awhile geography johnny would choose one person to sit in front of and encourage during the class period. he would choose a different person each day. after awhile though he got tired of choosing. then he started disappearing. kids--usually boys thought it was funny to hide him and then leave ransom notes on my desk for me. i am always able to find him though without too much work. who would have thought a little mini-globe would provide so much entertainment for school?

i also have a little penguin beanie baby named waddles. waddles went missing right before spring break and i am hoping he is not suffocating in some nasty locker somewhere.

I need to figure out how to be more of a teacher sometimes and less of a sister because people don't really listen to their sister as much, they just like to annoy their sister. Example, it was my birthday back in march and my room mom brought me lunch from Chipotle (my favorite) and two bags of double stuff oreos to give to the students at lunch. Kids go crazy anytime you give them free food so I waited until we went outside for lunch recess to hand them out. Each kid got one and then I still had some left so of course the 8th grade boys just attack me, and I really mean attack me. They were grabbing right and left for oreos, but they had already had some so I wasn't giving them any. They then all grab hands and make a circle around me so I can't escape and are trying to get me to give them oreos. First of all, what boys just grab hands with eachother and form a circle. Second of all, what makes them think it is ok to terrorize their teacher on her birthday??? One of them even grabs my arm to try and get the oreos. No way. I had a bottle of water in my hand so I throw the water on the kid who grabbed my arm. It was really funny but also surreal. They finally back away because they don't all want to get wet. They couldn't believe I threw water on them, but I couldn't believe they were being so ridiculous. I take an oreo out of the bag and say, "you really want one? really? here, take this one" and I throw it on the ground to see if anyone will eat it. Sure enough a boy picks it up and stuffs it in his mouth. So i take another one and this time throw it in a mud puddle and say "you want that one too?" yep, they ate it too. Then I take a last one, drag it completely through the mud so it is covered and hold it up and say "who wants it?" immediately a hand shoots out and stuffs it into his mouth.

The things we do for oreos.

I love going to school but I think next year I need to work more on being a teacher.

Teaching idea:

right before spring break we were learning about World War I. I had to do something to grade them or figure out what they had learned or somehow have them put things together so I gave them a choice to take a test I made or they could do something else as long as it showed me what they learned and their grade will be based on how much it looks like they have learned. A bunch of them made up their own test questions with an answer key. Some of them made really cool posters and one kid made a video of himself as a wwi soldier talking about the war as he walked through the woods and trenches.

I want the students to learn and I want them to be excited to learn so i am trying to figure out what that looks like, maybe this is a start, I don't know.

the secret is out

2009-01-16T14:45:00.002-05:00

So today a few of my students found out I had a blog. I tried to deny it, but I don't think they will believe me so I have had to take some precautionary measures. Obviously I don't really want them reading what I write, because even though I change the names, it is still about them. So now only people I approve can read it.

Look for some new stories coming soon...

welcome to 2009

2009-01-13T15:39:00.002-05:00

Ok, so here are 2 stories from today, read them and then please don't think I am a bad teacher.

Story 1: 7th period is basically my worst class. It's right after lunch and the last academic class of the day. I think they do like me, but they are just ridiculous. So each day my classes have to come in and answer some daily geography questions using an atlas. 1/3 of the kids in 7th period just sit around and chat while the others do the questions. We always go over the answers so if they just sit there they get the answers but that isn't fair. So today I said whoever wasn't finished had to go sit outside and finish while we went over the answers. At first no one moves, so then I started calling on kids I knew weren't finished to go outside. Then a bunch more start to get up. Then 2/3 of the class goes to sit outside. Inside I started to panick. Now the kids wanted to go outside. They didn't want to stay inside. What to do??? I went over the answers quickly with the 6 kids that were left and prayed nothing bad would happen with the kids outside. I know one of them though starts running around the boardwalk that goes around my class, but I was just hoping it would all turn out ok.
So I get all the kids to come back in, and I hear them saying to eachother to do the same thing again the next day----I don't think so. So after they were all seated I said we would do the same thing again tomorrow but this time whoever has to go outside would get a student reminder (which is a punishment and they have to get it signed by their parents and they hate them).

Moral of story 1: don't make going outside more attractive than staying inside...

Story 2:
School was now out and I had to have a meeting with a student and another teacher in the room next to mine. I left a bunch of boys in my room though to go to my meeting and since school was out I assumed they would just go home---wrong. I could hear lots of movement occurring in my room during my meeting so I figured they were probably still in my room. When I walked back into my room I was overpowered by the unmistakable smell of matches that had been lit and then blown out. So far I haven't found anything that has been burned in my room and no smoke alarms went off but I'm pretty sure they were burning matches or something in here while I was gone. What is it with boys and fire? Actually I kind of like fire too.

Moral of story 2: don't leave boys alone in my room even if it is after school---especially if it is after school

2008-11-21T19:54:00.002-05:00

Yet again time has flown by and there is much to say. Cheerleading season has officially started which means less time for the O.C. reruns that come on each day on SoapNet---probably for the best. There really is so much work that goes into cheering for all you skeptics out there. It truly is tough and I am realizing that I have little discipline and fortitude to perfect all the small minute details that go into making good cheers. I am not a detail person at all. But it is so great to be with the girls, it helps me appreciate them more. I like all my students, but sometimes I just like the boys a tad bit more--they are just funnier than the girls, but the girls are nicer.

I think it is the goal of each of my boys to annoy me as much as possible. I always "yell" at boys for throwing things. Over half of the time they say"I didn't throw anything I was just pretending!" Right. Then they think it is funny to pretend to throw invisible things at me to see how long it takes before I get really mad. Little do they know that I have a lifetime of experience ignoring annoying boys and it will take more than throwing invisible things to make me mad.

The other day during lunch recess a group of boys were playing Harry Potter. They were each a different character and were running around casting spells on each other. When the bell rang to go back to class I was walking inside when I walked by the group of boys, they all yelled, "Ah! It's Snape! And ran off to class." I really couldn't help but laugh.

At the beginning of each of my history classes, I always have questions written on the board for the students to do right when they come in the room and I call it the Bellringer. It is usually something that reviews whatever we learned the day before or introduces the new thing we are learning that day. I like them having something to get started on right away, but I didn't really like it just being review questions. I remembered what the class I did for student teaching did for their bellringer and I decided to change my activity. The school I student taught at had a class set of atlases for the students and each week the kids got a geography sheet with 2-3 geography questions they had to answer each day using their atlas. I really liked doing it then and most of my students now just don't ever get a lot of geography so my school ordered a class set of atlases for me to use and I found a geography book with questions for each day. Now the kids pick up an atlas at the start of each class and spend 5 minutes learning about geography. I was really excited about doing this instead of what I was doing, but I had to wait a week for the curriculum and atlases to come in. I was so excited for the new activity I just couldn't wait for it to come in the mail before I told the kids about it. But I didn't want to reveal everything about the new activity that would be coming, so for a week straight I kept talking in all my classes about how the bellringer activity was about to change. The kids got sooo excited too because they could tell how excited I was (I definitely exaggerated my excitement just a wee bit though). I told them each day how amazing the new activity was going to be and how I could not wait for it. Each day the kids would beg me to tell them what it was, but I couldn't give in. I later found out that some of them had even been asking another 8th grade teacher if she knew what the new activity was.
Well, this past Monday the new curriculum and atlases finally arrived. I was able to announce to my afternoon classes that Tuesday the new activity would start. In my 7th period class I built it up so much. One student said he didn't think he would be at school the next day. I replied, "You HAVE to be here! You want to know what the new activity is! Work it out so that you are here!" He said he would work it out.
Finally Tuesday came. In my heart, I knew the actual activity would be such a let down to all the students. At the beginning of the day I saw one of my boy students that I have 5th period and he was so excited. He was counting down his classes until history and he could find out the new activity. Sure enough, by the time he got to history and I explained the new geography stuff, I could see the disappointment all over his face. I think most of them thought I was just going to throw candy at them and show movies at the beginning of each history class.

I think a little disappointment is good for kids though. I admit that part of me enjoyed getting them all excited about something they didn't even know what it was going to be.

Sometimes when students are absent and they come to me the next day and ask what they missed I say things like, "Oh no! You missed the best day ever! I just let everyone eat candy and popcorn and play outside all class." And more often than not they actually believe me for at least 10 seconds.

Conversation with a boy student:
boy student: Miss Holcombe, are we allowed to bring guns to school?
Me: um, no!
boy student: (rolls up the sleeve of his shirt and flexes his muscle) Well, I guess you better send me home then!
Me: (trying not to laugh)

I think my level of humor has stooped to the middle school level. The longer I am around them, the more I find their stupid jokes just hilarious.

Ok, just a couple of pictures to end this post on. Below is a picture of me being blobbed by Mr. Tapp, the 8th grade science teacher on our middle school retreat to Windy Gap back in September. I got some serious air I tell you.
Here's a non-school related picture of a hike up Grandfather Mountain with some dear Charlotte friends. Also some serious air in this photo.

Thanksgiving is less than a week away!!!! Can't wait!

always look under the tissue

2008-10-08T21:43:00.002-04:00

So a little story from my week of teaching.
Each day after the 8th graders eat lunch we go outside for the last 15-20 minutes of lunch period for a little play time. This is my absolute favorite part of the day. I just love watching the students become little kids again and just laugh and play. Sometimes I play with them. Last Friday was just a gorgeous day outside and I was just dying to stay outside for forever, but alas eventually the bell rings signifying the end of lunch and the start of my 7th period history class. My last real class of the day.
7th period is a little tough. I am bored with what I am teaching because I have already been doing it 3 times. The kids are wound up from lunch and play and are ready for the day to be over. I find myself telling more stories that somewhat relate to what we are learning and somehow 7th period is always behind the other classes. One day I was reviewing a reading strategy with them that they did last year and they apparently all hated it but yet it is a good method to use so I said sometimes we have to do things we don't like and they may be hard but in the end they are good for us even if we don't think so at the time. Of course I had to tell them a story to make my point. I told them about when I was a junior in high school and it was a tough year because of my friends and how I felt lonely but I grew really close to God. But here's a little tip. Don't start a serious real life example with "When I was a Junior in high school I had no friends..." Everyone started laughing...hahaha Miss Holcombe didn't have any friends. I think they totally missed my point. Now they don't let me forget it. Thanks 7th period. I had almost gotten over my low self esteem jr. year but now I am constantly reminded every week but those little rascals :).

Okay, but now for the real story. So on Friday after the bell rang for 7th period, I make my way to my classroom. Several of the students were already in the room so I tell them to get seated and get started on their beginning assignment. Well I notice that there is a tissue on the keyboard of my computer on my desk. "Hmm..." I thought to myself, "I don't remember leaving a tissue there. But I actually kind of do need to blow my nose so maybe I should go pick it up and use it in a few minutes." I really did think that to myself. As I am watching the kids get started I notice a few girls turned around looking at something in the back of the room. "I wonder what they are looking at," I thought. These girls just had looks of absolute horror on their faces. Not wanting to make a big deal about it I ignored them, grabbed the tissue off my computer and was about to blow my nose when I notice the whole class turned around looking at the back of the room. Now I was really nervous. What was going on? What were they looking at? I follow the direction of their eyes and gasp when I see a HUGE bright green, fat caterpillar crawling on my computer. Picture that big fat caterpillar from A Bug's Life...what's his name? Hermie? Or something like that. That is what was on my computer. Now I am not usually freaked out by bugs but one of my deep somewhat irrational fears is of things that are abnormally large and this was abnormally large. "Someone take it outside!" I say. This boy rushes up scoops up the little crawly guy and takes him outside or so I assume.

The class is pretty worked up by now which honestly I kind of liked because the day was getting a little boring anyway. Eventually we have class. They have been working on some projects and we just did that. Well toward the end of class I notice the boy reaching into his sweatshirt pocket. "Trevor (not his real name), did you put the caterpillar in your pocket?" I ask calmly. He slowly pulls out his hand and sure enough sucking on his fingers is the fat monster itself. Then the bell rang and I was done.

don't use a tissue unless you know what was under the tissue. Also, try not to be as gullible as me.

2nd Time Around

2008-09-14T07:42:00.002-04:00

I have successfully completed almost 1 month of teaching! I cannot begin to tell you how much better things are the second time around! I feel like a whole different person. Last year I was so scared, unsure of myself, and clueless about everything. This year I am confident, in control, and really enjoying myself. Maybe I can do this teaching thing after all. So before I write about how I am changing the world each day I thought I would post a few pictures of my transforming classroom.. The first 2 pictures are of my class at the beginning of the year last year. The 3rd picture is of my class this year. notice any differences?

doesn't it look so crowded? everyday I would trip over all my students' stuff.

so drab and boring..........but now---look below!

sh-BAM! check out this new look!

I painted that wall myself! I rearranged, got new tables that are a lot skinnier so they take up less space. I only painted that one wall. The other 3 are still the ugly walls of a trailor but isn't that blue amazing???

I honestly have been trying to think of some funny stories to share, embarrassing moments to write about, some major mistake I made and cried about at the time but now I can laugh about it but I will tell you, I haven't really had anything like that yet this year. The kids are great and they are funny but nothing too major sticks out yet and maybe that's a good thing. I am hoping for no broken windows this year

Not one student has asked me how old I am or if I have a boyfriend. Last year they asked me all those questions within the first 2 days and then continued to ask weekly for the rest of the year. What is up with this group??? I was so prepared to deal with prying 13 year olds, but I have no need. Maybe that is also a good thing.

Overall I really feel like I am myself this year. I am myself with the kids and with the other teachers I work with and it is great. I love 2nd year teaching Lauren.

Ok, next post will include funny snippets or a list of life changing events, or a top 10 of some sort....stay tuned

dc photos

2008-08-10T20:55:00.008-04:00

Went to dc last weekend to visit collyn and see coldplay (my favorite band ever) in concert. Here's us at a little pond fountain thing at the smithsonian sculpture gardens. our friend Jared is working at a camp outside dc for the summer and came into the city for the day for a visit. it was so good to see him.

Sunday night we went to coldplay! It was literally the best night of music of my life. I love their new album and having their music swell up and fill the huge arena with walls of sound was just amazing. Our seats were pretty far away but we were straight back from the stage so we had a great view.
Towards the end they all ran up around the arena into the crowd and performed "the scientist" unplugged right in the middle of fans. cool.

the next 2 days I did a bit of sightseeing. collyn had to tutor inner-city kids in the morning so I went and saw the sights while she worked. Above is the Washington Monument--yay!
and below, the Lincoln memorial

these are some pictures of art from the National Gallery. My new favorite art museum.

new year, new look

2008-08-09T13:15:00.005-04:00

First of all, huge apologies to all my faithful readers. This post is long overdue and I just thank you for your endless patience and perseverance in not giving up hope that one day soon there would be a new story about lauren in charlotte. So here is it.

For those who have visited before, you may notice a new look and for those that have been here since the beginning, well you would know (or I would tell you now) that last week marked the 1 year anniversary of this blog's existence as well as the 1 year mark for me being in charlotte. I thought what better way to celebrate than to change things up a bit. This month also marks my 2nd year into the foray of teaching. Things are a little bit darker this time which I would like to think symbolizes that I will be a little edgier this year in the classroom, a bit more knowledgeable about the world, not so quick to let students take advantage of my niceness :)

Don't worry though, I am still the same nice person who is sure to have plenty of crazy stories from the world of teaching crazed 8th graders so never fear.

Ok, but on to what you have all been waiting for biting your nails on the edge of your seat. What have I been up to these past few months? Obviously not updating my blog so here's a quick run-down (will not bore you with all the details if you are still even reading this post):

1. babysitting--all the time! but it has been great. never thought I would say that about babysitting but I have absolutely loved the family I have been with this summer.

2. went to the beach--read 4 or 5 books while I was there, got lots of sun, ate food all the time, laughed with my family, what could be better?

3. worked a week of camp--best week of my life

4. been listening to Coldplay's new album Viva la Vida nonstop--pure musical heaven

5. gotten obsessed with reading the Twilight book series--books about vampires, werewolves and of course true love. I just finished the 3rd book and the only thing stopping me from going out right now to purchase the 4th book is the fact that I am updating my blog.

6. went to Washington DC to visit my bff forever collyn and saw Coldplay live! Possibly the best weekend of my life. My next blog will be posts of pictures from our nation's capitol and some concert photos and video so be on the lookout. That should hopefully be up within the next couple of days.

7. decided that next summer I want to go out of the country--hopefully backpack across europe--it will happen.

8. moved into an apartment with a cool girl from church. so excited to be living where I am!

That's about it. I can't believe it has only been one year since I moved to Charlotte. If you asked me one year ago where I thought I would be in a year I never would have imagined all the blessings the Lord has given me. I could not ask for a better school--I am sooooo excited about this year teaching. I have been so blessed by my church here and church family it is incredible. I never thought I would have such great community after I left college, but I do. The Lord has really blessed me with great friendships new and old. Well I have to wrap things up for now, but thanks for sticking with me through the silence and return soon because there will be pictures and video asap!

wrapping up the year

2008-05-25T18:52:00.004-04:00

This week I flew home on wednesday for my younger brother's high school graduation. way to go Thomas.
The next day Thomas shaved his head and I got a hair cut. I haven't seen his forehead since he was in 3rd grade. If college doesn't work out I think he could fit in with the army.

School finishes up this week. We have exams this week and get out at noon each day and then Thursday night is 8th grade graduation. I honestly will be really sad for the kids to leave. Some of them really drive me crazy but maybe I like them driving me crazy sometimes. These are some pictures I took last wednesday of my homeroom kids.

One of my students loves The Office just as much as I do and thought it would be funny to pull a little prank on me. She did the classic Jim/Dwight prank and put my stapler in jello.How do I get it out?
I left the stapler with the jello sitting on my desk all day and my favorite moments were when I told some of my boys they could eat the jello and they stuffed handfuls in their mouths only to go running out of the room and spitting it out all over the ground.

Here are some shots of my homeroom students. This boy is not much of a morning person. He usually shuffles in about 5 minutes late everyday
Here are the girls. Aren't they just sweet looking?
These are the boys. Don't be fooled by their outward appearance. They may look like upstanding citizens but they are still just brand new teenage boys.

photo blog

2008-05-17T21:24:00.006-04:00

So my brother Thomas and friend Sarah came for a visit this weekend and it has just been great. They came and ate lunch with me at school on friday and got to see firsthand some of the crazy kids I deal with everyday. After school we went to NoDa and saw some art, ate fish tacos and then hung out with some friends and then saw the new Narnia movie.

Saturday I bought a new digital camera and then we went on a charlotte adventure so for the first time ever, I am putting some pictures on the blog.

We rode the lightrail into uptown. Thomas almost got killed :)
I don' t know if you know this, but this is actually the most famous piece of public art and it located right in our very own charlotte and what better to do than to take a group picture in front of it.
This is the most famous clock in the world except for Big Ben...that's in London
Our main uptown mission became trying to get to the top of one of the buildings. We tried a couple of main ones but found that security is actually pretty tight, all the elevators were blocked off. We tried to use the stairs in another but all the doors were locked. We ended up in an underground basement of some building and came out in a parking deck.

After asking a few people on the street and making some phone calls the highest we got was a resturaunt on the 27th floor of a building.

Now we are watching Fight Club and I feel like I need to give it my attention.

do humans have scales?

2008-05-15T20:50:00.002-04:00

I have been trying to teach my students about the Civil Rights movement and on wednesday we did a computer activity looking at race. Today we discussed the activity and I was trying to get them to see that race is just an idea that people created and it isn't really an actual biological thing but the kids didn't really get it. Some asked questions like: "does that mean that like 2 white parents could have a chinese baby?" Um...no...you missed the point. But this comment beats all:
me: yes our dna does determine what we look like but that doesn't have to do with race
clueless boy student: well, what about the people that have hair and scales all over their bodies?
me:....stunned silence...

what about the people with scales all over their bodies? good question. wish I had an answer. absolute silence in the class after he asked that. maybe they all just try to find weird science fiction movies to star in or maybe that will be the next reality show. No one knew what to do with his question.

2008-05-14T19:51:00.002-04:00

Highlights from the past month of teaching:

1. I cried in front of my principal twice in one week--not because of bad things really, but just because I guess I had to get it out. And then I felt bad because he felt bad that he thought he had made me cry and couldn't sleep because of it...all is good though now.

2. I cried in front of one of my whole classes yesterday. This was not fun. Tuesdays are the worst days because I have classes every period and by 7th period they just weren't doing what they were supposed to be doing and I guess I just lost it. They weren't being exceptionally bad, just not exceptionally good and I got frustrated for the kids that were doing their work but the majority of the class was not and it didn't matter what I said or did so I just gave up and sat at my desk and then I started crying. Some of the students started noticing that I was crying and I could hear them start to tell each other to be quiet. After about 5 minutes everyone was silent. I didn't know what to do or say so I just sat at my desk entering grades on my computer praying for strength to pull myself together. With about 1 minute left I told them I didn't mean to cry but that I was just frustrated they felt like they could do whatever they wanted. The bell rang and one of my sweet girl students came over and gave me a hug and told me it was all ok. Some others came over and said they were sorry. I felt bad about it. I never wanted to just fall apart in front of all them that way when yes they weren't doing their part to be good students, but they weren't really any different than they had been all year for this class I guess I just couldn't handle it anymore and have the patience anymore. But even still after me just falling apart, one of my boy students had the audacity to come up to me after class and apologize for his behavior but still try to argue with me about getting out of his punishment he received earlier in class for harassing a student. Good news: only 1 more tuesday to survive for the school year

3. male Student asking a question in study hall:
"Miss Holcombe, can I go relieve Steve?"
me: "who's Steve?"
student: "my bladder. I call it Steve."

4. I am the assistant cheerleading coach now for the middle school and varsity cheerleaders. I have 0 years of cheering experience but have already learned how to do a hurky and count to 8. cheer camp here I come!

5. today I just started giving kids points randomly in class and in the halls. No one could figure out what they were getting points for and it was really bugging some of them. One student earned 2 points for every minute he was in class. Another girl earned 5 points every 10 minutes. The rest were just random. I think some of them thought it had to do with racism or segregation or civil rights or something because that is what we started talking about in class today but it doesn't have anything to do with anything.

6. Last friday we played a little game in class called the dot game. Each of the kids got a slip of paper that was either blank or had a red dot. They couldn't say what they had and the object of the game was for them to form groups. The biggest group without a red dot person won. And if a red dot person successfully infiltrated a group, then the red dot person won and everyone else lost so they had to be sneaky. I said that the winners would get a bonus point or 2 on their next test. Well first period all the red dot kids were discovered and not allowed into any of the groups. This one boy though who had a red dot started arguing with me about why he should get a bonus point because I hadn't explained the rules clearly and he deserved a bonus point even though he got found out. I kept telling him no he could not get a point because he didn't win and it was only 1 point anyway. "I don't care! I really need that point," he kept stressing. I was not about to give in. It turned into this big showdown though. The class was over and he wasn't leaving and there were a couple of kids in my room watching this standoff. This kid was dead serious and I really thought he was going to explode (or implode) if I didn't give him his point. The bell rings for the next class and he is still not leaving. "I'm not leaving until I get my point," he said. I replied, "I am ignoring you now." And so I did just that. Kids from his math class (where he was supposed to be) come and try to get him because they were taking a quiz and he still did not leave. It wasn't until his math teacher came in and looked at him dumbfoundedly and told him to get to class that he left.

who tries to argue about 1 bonus point? the kid later apologized

only a week and a half left!!!
I will for sure miss my kids though. It's been probably one of the most amazing years of my life, but I am really about at the end of what I can handle I think.

broken window saga/goose on the roof

2008-04-03T22:44:00.000-04:00

So a little continuation from my last story about the window that came out of the frame (#6 on the list). The window didn't actually break when it came out so I just popped it back in the frame and hoped for the best. One student told me he would bring me some super glue to help secure it. Never got the glue.
So today was actually a fairly good day considering what I had planned to teach ended up being a total flop and I just stopped right in the middle of it and told the kids we would come back to it on tuesday when I had a better visual aid for them to see what I was actually talking about so we worked on their research papers they were writing instead...at least most of them worked. So overall it was a good day. Well I come to my last period study hall and it goes pretty well. The bell rings for the end of the period and I went inside the school building for a bit and when i come back, my window has fallen out again and is now completely shattered. How it happened, of course I do not know.
I went to go tell my principal who is pretty good natured and I feel like I am going to turn in to one of those people that things just kind of happen to and I don't really know what started it or how it ended up in that place, but it did and now I need someone to help me fix it even though I can't explain how it went wrong in the first place. He mostly just laughed as I told him the story and hopefully he thought it was just funny that I really had no idea how the window broke, but to end the story there is now a huge piece of plywood nailed to my window of my trailer of a classroom. I kind of like the added ghetto flavor. I am thinking next I will put up some icicle christmas lights and maybe stick a tire and some cinder blocks on the board walk outside my room.

Oh yeah! One final weird story from today. Can't believe I almost forgot about this one! So during 3rd period while kids are supposed to be working on their papers and I am helping them, all of a sudden one of my girls looks outside and yells, "There's a goose on the roof!" So of course we all have to rush outside to see what she is talking about and sure enough, perched on the top of the roof of the main school building is a wild goose just observing all that there is to observe at Covenant Day.
Half of my class was working in the computer lab so one of my boy students took it upon himself to inform all of them of the gawking goose by running into the computer lab and yelling "THERE"S A GOOSE ON THE ROOF!"
Instant rush to the door. Never mind all the expensive computers and equipment. All thought goes out the door when a goose is on the roof.
Before I can say stop kids are climbing onto the railing of the boardwalk and some of them are beginning to try and climb up onto the roof to meet and greet the little quacker.
It is then that I remember I have power and authority and yell at them to get down and get back to work (after another teacher sticks her head out her door wondering what on earth is creating such a ruckus).

Smashed windows, almost a literal wild goose chase, seriously?

why do I do what I do?

2008-04-02T13:09:00.000-04:00

so it's been awhile I know, but I have been thinking very hard about what I should write about and I decided I would compose a list titled: "Things that I do Not Know How They Happened (while teaching) but They Did and Thankfully No One was Seriously Hurt"

**names have been changed to protect myself**

1. One day during my 7th grade study hall, I left the room to make sure 2 of the bad boys in my class were actually doing what they were supposed to do (cleaning out their lockers) and was gone from the room for about 2 minutes and when I came back all the remaining kids were gone. No one was in my room. What to do? Well I went out the back door of my classroom to see if anyone went outside and found a couple of kids and when I turned around my principal was standing at the front door to my class with a confused expression on his face. "What's going on?" he asked. I went over to see what he was talking about and sure enough, the remaining 4 or 5 missing students were on the ground outside my classroom hiding under this boardwalk in front of my room with huge eyes and looks of mild fear on their faces. "They told me they were working on a project for you," my principal said...talk about bad moments for my principal to come by and see all the kids in my class hiding out completely not doing what they should be doing and me having no idea how they got there or what was really going on...

2. April Fool's Day: I made one of my students cry. It was terrible. I then went home and cried about it.

3. Another study hall story: three boys were standing in the back of the room playing with my globe. All of a sudden 2 of them run out of the room yelling. They had been playing "spin the globe", their version of spin the bottle, (I thought they were just being curious about the world around them) and as the rules go in spin the globe, the two boys that had run yelling from the room were supposed to kiss each other--don't worry they didn't actually do it and I put a stop to that real quick. I'm thinking that may not be super appropriate to play at school

4. Towards the end of some class where the kids were just doing work: I look up from my desk and Stan is taking off his pants in the back of the room in front of students. "What are you doing?!" I exclaim. "What? I have gym shorts on underneath," Stan explained as if it were perfectly fine to take off your pants in class as long as there was something on underneath

5. Study hall again: Twice a week I get to have some awesome 8th graders last period of the day for study hall. I am the worst study hall teacher I will admit. George and Rod are good students but totally take advantage. George freaks out all the time and screams like a girl. Sometimes George and Rod pick up chairs and pretend like they are going to hit each other. One day George and Rod kept chasing each other and I told them to stop. Rod, being a generally good kid, obeyed and sat down. George being full of sin and large amounts of energy kept running around the room. As he ran by me I stuck out my foot and tripped him. George fell flat on his face and the rest of the class laughed. Let's talk about good ideas and bad ideas Miss Holcombe..or just bad ideas that thankfully didn't end too badly.

6. Two seconds ago as my 7th grade study hall ended (why are all these study hall stories??? does that tell you anything??) two boys whom we will call Tom and Ryan were being boyish and somehow one of my windows is now broken, the glass came out of the frame

7. One day in history I told a story about when I went to Mexico on a missions trip and it included the phrase "Oh crap" (apparently a no-no phrase when teaching at a christian school) and "don't worry it was just my pee" and ended with the entire class horrified and one boy with his head in his hands muttering "that was the most awkward moment I've ever had in a class"

8. I won't even get into the numerous times the whole class starts asking about if I have a boyfriend, am I dating mr. schindler (a substitute teacher) or coach sharpe (high school teacher)

I feel like this is only the beginning of the list and these are only the things I could think of right off the top of my head. Some days life as a middle school teacher truly is a battlefield and it is a wonder anyone makes it out alive by the end of the day. News travels fast in this school too. Stories of students doing bad things spread in 2 seconds. Example: my window that just broke, 1 minute after it happened, 3 other students completely unrelated to the incident come running in, "Which window was it???" they excitedly ask. "We heard one of them broke!"

Would I want any other job right now? No. Except maybe being a mailman on the side. I always thought it would be fun to drive one of the mail cars where you sit on the opposite side and deliver mail and drive through pretty neighborhoods with the sun shining on you listening to fun music all day. Or even better, I would be a mailcarrier in a foreign country. Like Belgium or Croatia or Austrailia.

Ok I have to go somewhere now so I am done, but will try to update more often. Oh and next post I will put up pictures of Jamaica!!!

life changing news

2008-02-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

This year I have turned into Miss Holcombe and I have gotten used to it, now you can also call my Coach Holcombe. Somehow this week I became the new assistant coach for the middle school girls team. The last time I played softball I was in 7th grade and I broke by arm tripping over a water bottle trying to catch a fly ball during our pre-game warm-up.

I am super excited though. I have never been a coach and I think it could be great fun. I just have to go out and get a glove now and try to play some catch before tryouts on tuesday.

And I just found out I am going to jamaica with my family for spring break!!!

Going Green: Urban Trek

2008-01-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

It has been just a great week and today I decided it was time for a little adventure. A lightrail train opened a few months ago just up the road from my house and I have wanted to ride it for so long. I had a couple of errands to run at a shopping center at the end of the lightrail line. With my gas tank empty and a tire that is close to being flat, I decided to pay $1.30 and ride the train.

I packed my walkabout bag with the essentials: canvas shopping bags, wallet, book, knife, and mace pepper spray. It was a brisk but sunny afternoon as I got to the station just up the street. I purchased my ticket at the kiosk and then stood around waiting for the train to come. A homeless looking man asked me if I could spare a dollar, I gave him 70 cents. The train soon came and I was suprised to find it nearly full. I found a seat behind a dad and his little boy who was so excited to be on the train. I tried to imagine that I was in a big city or a foreign city on my way to a great destination. I rode till the end of the line and followed the crowd to a busy intersection where I crossed the street into a huge shopping center. I went to bed, bath, and beyond to get a different comforter and then went to Target. To make my impact on the environment even less, I used my canvas grocery bags and refused all plastic.

I wanted to get back on the train before it got dark so I headed back across the street to the station. I purchased another ticket and boarded a nearly full train. I sat in an empty seat next to a man out with his two little boys on an adventure of their own. The dad was leaving the next day for a year in Afghanistan. I wanted to say something nice to him, but I had no idea what to say. I was thinking that he must be so sad to leave his cute little boys and that his little boys were going to miss their dad so much. I just said "I hope it all goes well for you" Lame. I wish I had said something better. Coming home the train was packed. A grandfather with his two grandsons got on just before we left. One of the boys looked very nervous and asked the ticket checker how fast the train went. Only 55 mph was the reply. The boy said "Oh I feel so relieved!" Someone had told him it went 90-100 mph.

I would ride the lightrail everyday if I could. I got back home just in time to find out that figure skating is on tonight which is only my most favorite thing to watch in the entire world. It has been a good day.

2007-12-19T19:26:00.000-05:00

I got a NC license plate the other day. I am officially a resident of NC. I also now officially own my car. Thanks mommy and daddy!Now when I do stupid stuff while driving people will just think, "stupid NC driver" instead of "stupid alabama driver"

Milestone: finished teaching my first semester today. I feel like I have learned so much, gone through so much, and am a lot more confident. I don't cry as much anymore which is good (except on my way to work this morning while listening to a heart-tugger on the radio).

gift tally from my students:
a lot of $ in giftcards including starbucks, panera, old navy, target and a big one to gap--my students know what I like
lots of baked goods
a vera bradley lunchbox--an upgrade from my ricky martin box although i will never get rid of it collyn!
some paper goods and christmas kitchen towels--festive and some kind of zip up travelling make-up bags--potentially useful or a good re-gift

I will totally miss them over break until I am with my family and friends in a few days. I don't think they will miss me though and I'm ok with that.

Tonight I went door-to-door to some of my neighbors to give them some cookies i had baked and it was so much fun! I met 2 couples, a greek gentleman, and Mrs. Hinkle--an elderly lady who told me to come back anytime. I loved meeting all them and seeing their homes and chatting. One of the neighbors, Mike and Jill had a cat that is some weird kind but its fur felt like velvet. It started biting my jacket while I was there and Mike joked that the cat must be attracted to me. I said I was available and wouldn't mind having to touch that cat all the time--maybe if I were a cat.

Merry Christmas!

the best way to spread christmas cheer

2007-12-11T20:26:00.001-05:00

is by singing loud for all to hear! I decided to get a christmas tree for the house I live in and I put it up today after school. It is a 100% real tree. I have never bought a tree before but I was so excited. Putting up a tree really isn't a one person job. No one I live with was home when I got home but I did not want to wait, and there is nothing better than coming home to a nicely lit tree after a long day of work. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The tree kept tilting and I just don't know why but it wouldn't stay up by itself while I was tightening the bolt things so eventually I tried holding the tree with my feet while I screwed in the bolt holder things...success!

Question: what is worse, not having a tree at all or decorating a tree all by yourself?

I personally think not having a tree at all is worse. I remember growing up though (up until last year) decorating the tree with my family was my favorite thing all year (except for the beach, birthday, and christmas presents) we had these little elves and birds that were supposed to go on the tree that my brothers and I would play with all the time. Mine was the yellow elf and my older brother's was the red elf. The green elf was the stupid looking one no one wanted so we gave that one to our little brother. The elves flew around on the birds and fought off all the other evil ornaments on the tree. This year it was just me wrestling the evil tree, but I would do it all again if I had to.

Today I went to Fresh Market to get some dinner and on my way in the store this older lady sitting out front asked, "Hey what's yo' last name?" I said, "You talking to me?" She responded, "Yeah!" So I told her. She said she thought I was the priest for some church up the road, that I looked like the priest. I laughed because people say I look familiar all the time or ask I if I am so-and-so but I have never gotten priest before. Perhaps I will go rethink my life though now and become on, then I can marry people

go get a tree if you don't have one! I did it, you can too!

Hannah's not just in Montana

2007-11-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

she's less than a foot away from me in a mall in charlotte. So i woke up today thinking it would just be a typical day off of school--sleep in, run some errands, water my plants, and watch the office. It started off that way but around 3:00 this afternoon the course of my life changed forever.

I was walking towards the Gap at Southpark mall when I run in to one of my students out shopping with her sister. Celeste quickly tells me that Hannah Montana is at the mall today and has just been spotted at Urban Outfitters. I had only one response: we have to go see her!

At this moment Celeste is no longer my student. I am no longer her teacher. We are just two girls stalking a Disney Channel celebrity and feeling no shame about it. As we get closer to the store we see pockets of young teenage girls with hopeful looks on their faces as they whip out their cell phones hoping to snap a picture of the famous girl. Celeste and I walk into the store. I at least pretend to shop while Celeste scans the store. "There she is" Celeste says and point to the cash registers. I walk over trying to look uninterested and check out a hot pink wallet I have no intention of buying. Right in front of me is the Hannah Montana (if you don't know who she is well I just learned today that her show on the disney channel is the number one show in the world so feel really out of touch with the world)

She was with a friend and a tall imposing figure I can only assume was her body guard. She finishes paying and I keep inspecting the wallet I don't even like. I look up long enough to see her face as she walks past me. I hear my student saying hey to her and an old man with his camera phone trying to get her to smile. Hannah continues out the store and into California Pizza Kitchen...I hope she orders pizza.

Maybe this is why I came to charlotte. now that hannah and I have brushed shoulders she is going to let me co-star in her show. I don't know how I'll be able to go back to real life tomorrow but I guess since I get paid to do what I do I will do my best not to let the moment go to my head.

basketball season begins

2007-11-16T21:09:00.000-05:00

After school today I went to the first middle school boys' and girls' basketball games of the season. A lot of my students play on the teams and asked me if I would come and to be honest, I really had nothing else better to do and I was really looking forward to them. It was fun watching my students in a completely different atmosphere. I felt so proud when I would see some of my girl students plow over the other team and just snatch the ball out of their opponents' hands. i thought to myself, "yeah, I teach that girl." Both teams won. The girls clearly outplayed the other team but the boys' game was a nail biter until the end. It was so exciting to see my boys shoot 3 pointers and and free throws. When I first walked into the gym before the girls game started, all the boys on the team cheered for me. They were glad I was there. The parents all thought it was so great of me to come support the team. I didn't want to tell the parents that it was either that or sit at home alone...actually I'm hoping for better Christmas gifts now that the parents see I really do care about their kids :)

Big news of the week: I rearranged my classroom so that the kids are sitting 4-5 at a table instead of 3 so now when can do more group work easier--my life is exciting I know.

Today I also found out one of my best students is leaving at christmas to go to public school. I will miss her. I always counted on her in first period to have an answer when everyone else in the class had no idea what i was talking about. It is weird to think that my first year is almost half over. I feel like there is still so much that I don't know about the students and I wonder am I really making a difference in their lives? Right now a year seems so short. I think I really do love my kids and I don't want to look back and wish I had given more to them while I had them.

I have no good stories right now. Each moment at school is a story and by the end of the day there are so many I can't even think of them, you just have to come visit sometime and you can witness it all first hand. sometimes I ask myself what I was thinking when I decided to move here and take this job, honestly I don't think I was thinking or else I wouldn't have done it but I am so glad I did get this job. Now I just wish my life outside of my job was more exciting...maybe my life will just become my job especially now that it is basketball season.....................just kidding

turn that smile upside down

2007-10-31T17:23:00.000-04:00

I realized today that I smile too much and I think that is why a lot of the time my students don't take me seriously. Maybe I am just too much like them or am too understanding of their desire to just talk to their neighbor and have fun and not be interested in post-Civil War conflicts in the United States. Maybe I have put up with too much crap from the students and now it's getting out of hand.

I guess I keep wishing that one day (soon) all the kids will just respect me and pay attention automatically on their own because they like me as a person and I have shown that I like them and respect them and then I won't have to keep telling them to listen or stop talking or stop throwing things like chairs and books and pencils and pulling off their pants in the middle of class. Maybe that is just wishful thinking. The question now is, how do I keep control over the class? I do not want to be a strict dictator calling students out for every little thing. I just want the students to not be so crazy at the beginning of class. I think it makes things harder for them though when I smile or laugh at their bad behavior because sometimes it still is funny to me too. Like today when Steve pulled Don's chair away right before Don sat down and then don fell on the ground...it was funny...and then Don proceded to sit on the floor for the rest of class. I didn't make him get back in his chair. I did not get onto Steve for doing what he did. Another student who knows where I keep my candy took a piece after I told her no. I was being serious when i said no--tonight's halloween, they will get all the candy they want tonight--but when i smile when I say no I guess they don't really believe me.

grades are due today and i spent all day yesterday grading a big project the kids did on the civil war. well one group of girls made a video for their project but i couldn't get it to work on my computer or tv at school so they never presented and i didn't know what to do to make it work so i just gave them all 100s. Don't tell any of my students...sometimes too I have lost some of their big assignments, I don't know how and I don't want to make them do it again because it was probably my fault, so they also get a 100. This quarter I will focus more on organization...and discipline

2007-10-16T20:48:00.000-04:00

As I write this I am sitting in my new house that I just moved in to here in Charlotte. If you remember, I have been living with an older lady (the aunt of a friend from Covenant) and its been great but I am so excited to be in my own place with a room I can do whatever i want with. I have no furniture yet and am sleeping on a blow up mattress but my parents are coming in 2 weeks with some furniture yay! I am living with 2 girls which is good--before it felt like I was living by myself. Right now I am stealing someone else's wireless internet but tomorrow we are supposed to be getting it for our house. It is so cool to actually have all of these things be my very own. I don't think I have fully grasped yet the fact that I am living on my own and can make my own life for myself.

Teaching: I think I am beginning to like it. Our school just had a retreat where we went to a Young Life camp up in the mountains of NC for a few days and it was amazing! I love camp and I love hanging out with the kids and the other teachers. I got pied in the face several times by students and one night during dinner got called up to this stage along with my principal and two students. The principal and I both had to but on these gigantic sweatsuits and then stand on a scale and have our weight announced to the whole school. Then the 2 students had one minute to stuff our sweatsuits with ice to see who gained the most weight. I lost by one pound...stupid girl student couldn't move fast enough. Finally we had a variety show night where the teachers and chaperones did some different performances. I went on stage with a few other teachers and some parents and we were all wearing white t-shirts and the lights were off with a strobe light going. The teachers and parents all lined up on their hands and knees on the ground in a line to form a "bucking bronco" my job was to run and launch myself off of one dad's back and land on another dad's back and then ride him like I was a bull rider and eventually he would buck me off. Does anyone else think this might be slightly awkward? When the person telling me what to do was explaining all this I kept saying, "you want me to do what?!?!??" but needless to say, it was a hit. I also had to act out a zit being popped and I was the zit that came up at the end. I had some half and half in my mouth that I spit out into the crowd as I was "popped" all the students said I was the star and I think I earned the respect of some of the other teachers.
I did not mind though. I'll be honest, I kind of like that kind of attention. I really do like people telling me I am amazing and cool and a star. is that so wrong?

i really do love most of my students. and deep down inside I do think of them as my friends sometimes---probably not the best mindset to have, but I don't think I am a very serious person and the students keep me from being too serious.

I am running in an 8K on saturaday with a girl I met at church and the baby she will be babysitting that weekend in a jogging stroller-I'm excited. I went for a run yesterday around my new house, got lost all over charlotte and what was only supposed to be a 20-25 minute run turned into an hour and a half, but at least now I know I will be able to last on sat.

I have the first official dinner date basically of my life on friday night with this person I am not too excited about and basically I am an idiot and if I were just better on the phone and not afraid to just be honest I could be sitting safe at home friday night, but I guess it will be good for me though and if anything it will be a nice meal maybe some cheesecake for dessert and hopefully I will have enough guts to say I am not really interested in a relationship right now if he asks if I want to do something again.

well tomorrow is an early day and I want to sleep. Come visit me at my new house!!!

home sweet home

2007-09-21T10:12:00.000-04:00

As I write this I am sitting in my family room at home in Birmingham, AL. My parents are at work and my brother is at school and it is just me and my dog Annie. It is so good to be home. It's amazing how much less alone you feel when a dog is around. We had a teacher work day which I quickly found out to be secret code for teacher holiday! So I am putting off till tomorrow (or until monday) what I could do today and came home yesterday afternoon.

If you had asked me last Sunday what I thought about teaching I probably would have told you I hated it and I didn't like my school if I was being completely honest. But if you asked me today what I thought about teaching I would not tell you I loved it, but I would tell I really am beginning to enjoy it. If you ask me next week what I think of teaching, I have no idea how I will feel. This past month my feelings have been so up and down I am no where near being able to make a good judgement on what I really think. But this week was a great week for school. I think I am just feeling more confident about things even if every class is not great, I am still ok. I do like the school I am in, I like the size of it and the opportunities I am having to bond with the students. It's not a perfect school though and I have some ideas for things to do that I think would be good and so I want to get to the point where I am not just thinking about how to make my classroom better but how can I help make the school better too.

I feel like the other teachers don't really know the real Lauren. I get intimated a lot when the prinicpal talks to me even though he is not a scary guy. I want people to know that I am funny and don't really take myself too seriously. I guess it will just take time for the real me to come out in front of the teachers. I think I do have a problem with just wanting people to like me. I think I am an awesome person who is funny and caring and a good friend and I just want other people to know that person too.

News for the week:
I broke up my first fight the other day in class. Two boys who are friends were goofing around before class and then before I know it one of them is flat on the ground and then hops up and starts going at it with the other boy. I yelled at them to stop and then got in between them (they are shorter than me and no fists were being thrown yet) and they stopped. I told them both to go sit down and then just kind of started class hoping that by moving on quickly to the history lesson everyone would forget what had happened. That mostly worked. I didn't really know what to do though or how it really started, but by the end of class the boys seemed ok and John (one of the boys) went up to Dixon and apologized. John had pushed Dixon on accident but Dixon thought it was on purpose and that's why they started fighting. It was kind of sweet though that they were able to forgive each other so quickly. I think my main strategy for dealing with stuff like that is to kind of just ignore it...probably not the best thing to do but I just don't really know what else to do. My students probably think I am completely clueless sometimes and maybe I probably am.

I discovered how to be everyone's favorite teacher, have class outside. This is actually code for the students don't get any work done and just have a free period. Note to self: don't do this again unless you really don't care if the students throw things at a wasp's nest and get absolutely nothing accomplished during the period.

Finally, I signed a lease on a house! Me and two other girls I met (Lauren and Jenelle) have decided to move in together and we have been looking at different places to rent and finally decided on a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with a fenced in backyard for Lauren's black lab and our lease starts Oct 5. I am super excited. Where I am living right now is great in the sense that it is 5 minutes away from work and completely free but it is mostly like I am living by myself and it gets pretty lonely a lot. I am excited to be in a house with my own furniture, a bedroom I can decorate and people my age who will be around and a dog! So now I need people to come visit me in my awesome new house! I feel like there are so many things to do in charlotte but none of them are things I want to do by myself. Now that I am starting to like my job I want to start liking living in charlotte. I want to have a life outside of work so badly. I have been meeting people, now it is just a matter of becoming real friends with people. And my old friends come visit me!

Being by myself a lot though has definitely made me more brave. I know that if I do not make the effort myself to meet people and go to events like at church then I will never meet people. Always before in my life I would not do things unless I was with people I knew or would know at least a few people at an event I was going to go to. Now I know nobody and I have to pray that God will give me courage to step out and go to things and meet people and it is hard, but God's mercies are new each day and he has provided so much for me already. Every now and then I totally break down and cry for a long time just wanting to quit and come back home but then I am reminded that it is not supposed to be easy but that God is still here.

Well, I know I have written a lot, does anyone really read this thing? I will be travelling a lot the next couple of weeks. Home this weekend, flying to Michigan next friday..so excited!!! covenant's homecoming the week after, moving into a new house, th school I teach at is having the middle school retreat at a camp in NC soon, visiting my grandparents and other stuff. I don't have any best friends in charlotte yet, but I am so excited to see all my very best of friends over the next couple of weekends!

all by myself

2007-09-08T12:29:00.000-04:00

So I have been a resident of this city for a little over a month now and I am ready for this place to feel like home. It may not be long before I have a home of my own though. I have met 2 girls and we have been looking at places to live together and we have found some definite possibilities and will probably decide soon. Maybe even as soon as next week...scary but exciting. I feel like I will feel more settled here once I have a house of my own with my own furniture and stuff. However it has been nice not to have a huge chunk of my pay go towards rent.

I've had a cold all week and have been so tired each day after school. Last night was probably the most pathetic night of my life. The lady I live with was out of town and it was just me all by myself at the huge house with no prospects and a medium hawaiian pizza from Hungry Howie's for dinner. Life seemed pretty bleak as I was constantly blowing my nose and watching the lamest show 1 vs 100 on TV (think Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with easier questions and cheesier dramatic pauses) I need people in my life.

Life as a school teacher: not so bad. I am liking most of my students and each day is different. We had a parents night on tuesday and I had to give a 10 minute presentation about me and my class in front of the 8th grade parents-kind of intimidating but I survived. I told all the parents the only thing the kids would have to memorize for my class would be the 50 states and capitols. A couple days later my principal called me to his office to "chat" I was pretty nervous. Apparently every year the students are required to memorize some historical document to recite in front of the class and it is usually done in history...I guess my class will be memorizing a bit more than the 50 states.

Well here's to house hunting and better days ahead!

for Dave

2007-08-31T12:05:00.000-04:00

Today is the end of week 2 in my life as a real teacher. It is 40 minutes before lunch and I am sitting in my classroom with the harsh overhead lights off and the peaceful sunlight streaming through the small windows and 3 students sitting in my class for a study hall. All my main teaching is done for the day, thank goodness! After lunch I have a group of 7th graders for a study hall. This is becoming one of my favorite times during the week. On Wed. I started reading The Phantom Tollbooth at the beginning of study hall and we are going to keep reading a little bit each time we have it while the kids work on their homework.

Teaching history has been interesting. I am quickly realizing how little I know about U.S. history and feel like sometimes I am making it up as I go along. I am very thankful for google and wikipedia and for the fact that the internet never lies. I know that everything I read about U.S. history on it is 100% fact. Middle schoolers don't really get sarcasm but does that stop me from using it? never. My favorite history class is my 4th period group, they are my smallest class. Size definitely makes a difference. All my other classes are so full and I don't think I am intimidating enough to get them to listen to me. 4th period I feel freer to be myself because they are easier to manage.

Life in Charlotte: not too bad. I visited a church I liked last weekend. On my way to church though I missed the exit I was supposed to take and because charlotte roads are so ridiculous it took me 1/2 an hour to get back to where I needed to go so I made it to church just in time for the sermon. A few weeks ago I met a girl who is looking for a roommate, we got along and she is looking at some possibilities of places to live this weekend. I am going to the lake with my aunt, uncle and cousins so I can't go with her, but I am excited about finding somewhere good soon. Even though I am not paying rent right now and saving lots of $ that way, I am excited to have a place I can call my own.

Not a day goes by though that I do not miss my family and friends. My job is great but it is not my life.
That's about it for now. Is that what you wanted dave?

painful shoes

2007-08-23T12:27:00.000-04:00

I have been teaching for 3 days now and the most valuable lesson I have learned is to wear comfortable shoes. I wore heels on tuesday (awful) new flats on wed (blisters everywhere) and nice dressy flip flops today (perfect) I wish I could wear my rainbows but I don't think those fall under "business casual" which is how I'm supposed to dress.

Some girls asked the first day if they could call me Miss H, I wasn't sure what to say I just kind of stared at them blankly. I've never even been called Miss Holcombe before I can't handle any variations yet.

It's nice to have a routine now. I wake up around 6, get to school around 7:15 and stay here until 3:30. I go run at this park around 4, make it back home by 5 in time to watch Ellen on TV, 6:00 is Scrubs/make dinner, 7 is Jeopardy/eat dinner and then the rest of the night is whatever until I go to bed. Not too exciting yet. The teachers are really great to get to know but the weekend is fast approaching and I am looking forward to church as the only time I will be around people who aren't teachers. Still haven't really found a church yet though hopefully soon I will find a place I will want to get involved in and maybe I will have more to look forward to than Ellen and Scrubs.

Yesterday I bought a plane ticket to Michigan for the last weekend in Sept!!! I am so excited I just want to go to sleep and wake up in a month. It will be so great to see friends. There's this girl that I kind of know up there, we did some things together in college, it will be good to see her again.

It's about time for lunch and I have lunch duty, so me and my Ricky Martin lunchbox are going to head out.

3 days till I become Miss Holcombe

2007-08-18T11:55:00.000-04:00

Since my last post:
I have decorated my classroom. Pictures are forthcoming...look on facebook for an album someday soon.
I have discovered the best place to run and I have begun getting back into shape. boston marathon look out.

School starts on tuesday and I am trying not to freak out. No one ever taught me what to do the first day of school and I have no plans yet. I have gotten really good at procrastinating. Today I am going to go hit up some of the department stores that are having sales for some more teaching clothes. In my mind as long as I look the part of a teacher, the plans will come.

So pray that my first week of teaching will go well and that I will actually have something to teach to the kids when they come on tuesday. Monday is a drop-in come meet your teachers day. I am kind of excited about that. I will meet my students before school starts but probably won't remember any of their names.

that's all for now.

half-way there

2007-08-08T16:58:00.001-04:00

Today I survived an all day faculty meeting with all the teachers at my school. My head is swimming in information and still cannot believe that this job is for real. I keep waiting for my college professors to come around the corner and hand me a syllabus and a list of assignments and then introduce me to the real teacher who will actually be teaching but that is not happening because I am the real teacher and I feel like I am the person most surprised by that fact. Not many people at my school know this is my first year yet or that I am just barely 22 years old--the youngest person at the school other than students and that I really have no idea what I am doing. But it's going to be great (I keep telling myself that).

I finally went into my classroom today and found that the previous teacher left pretty much all her materials as well as a big binder full of all her lesson plans and notesheets and pretty much anything I would need to survive for a year. I was excited to find that because it will at least help me to know what direction to go in. I am a person who needs direction. I don't do well coming up with everything on my own.

Tomorrow night I am having coffee with a girl who is also looking for a roommate. I found out about her through another teacher at my school. This girl teaches somewhere else in charlotte and has grown up here so if something works out with her it would be nice to be with someone who really knows the city. One of the other teachers at my school who graduated from covenant a couple of years ago said some of her friends might be getting together tonight and if they do she will call me. It's nice to have at least something to do other than go to target by myself or watch a dvd by myself or read a book by myself. I love myself I do but I love people too.

I am about to go grocery shopping for the first time and think I will actually cook tonight. I really want to make thai noodles with chicken and peas and by golly that's what I'm going to do....need to add olive oil to the list

I am grateful for: 1. Caribou Coffee and free wireless internet. I have become a regular patron at the neighborhood caribou coffee. they even let me pay all in change (which I have a lot of).
2. Miriam Jones, the lady I am living with, is at the beach this week and invited me to come down on Friday when I finish with school for the weekend. I love the beach and am so excited for this. I ordered a new bathing suit yesterday and even paid express shipping so it will come in time but since I am making so much money now it's okay to splurge on things like $16 shipping.

off to superwalmart!

u-turns

2007-08-05T20:09:00.000-04:00

I have almost successfully made it through my first weekend on my own.
Things that have helped me: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows and Gampy's (my grandfather) 80th birthday.

After reading nearly all weekend, the adventure is complete and I am so satisfied. I only wish now that I actually was Harry Potter and then I would want nothing more.

Friday was my first day of new teacher orientation. It went well. Then I braved the crazy roads of Charlotte in a quest to find Regions Bank and the Gap. I was able to complete both quests thanks to some helpful folks willing to give directions and the ability of my car to make u-turns upon demand-which was often. I spent the afternoon buying teacher clothes that will empower me with all authority and ability. Then I came back to my house around 5 and read Harry until midnight stopping only momentarily to fix a world class dinner of cheerios and dried cranberries. I have yet to cook a real meal for myself. I want to cook, I do and I know how, I just am not hungry for anything.

Saturday afternoon I drove to Columbia, SC for Gampy's surprise birthday party. It was so nice to be with family. I did not want to leave. I do not doubt being in charlotte is where I need to be but I wish I could just quit and do something else and it wouldn't matter. But I can't quit now. I have to do this.

I keep thinking of this year as just one big adventure, kind of a challenge for myself. Will I be able to stand the trials and tests sent my way in the big bad city without a soul by my side for help? I hope so and if in the end I survive, I will love it.

I think I am being more dramatic about all this than is actually necessary but I did just finish reading Harry Potter and I need to feel like there is some incredible purpose to my being in charlotte right now.

experience for the weekend: discovering a deep secret about one of my neighbors that I don't even want to write in case someone finds out, but if you knew what I found, you would be speechless too.

well my stomach is beginning to grumble, it is time for more cereal...or maybe I will finally microwave one of those frozen dinners sitting in my freezer while I watch a movie.

this is it

2007-08-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

first of all, sorry I have no witty title for this blog, but I think it is self-explanatory. I never thought I would be where I am now. If you had told me this time last year I would be moved into a new city all by myself starting a job tomorrow I might have run and hid on an island where time never passes...that might be an exaggeration. But here I am in little Char-Char that isn't so little.

New experience #1: buying groceries from Harris Teeter and driving to the front of the store and having the bag boy load up my car for me. I could get used to that.

What's in store tomorrow: new teacher orientation at Covenant Day. I am ready to absorb information. I bought a new outfit today from target to wear tomorrow. I didn't want to be overdressed but not underdressed either so I have a khaki skirt and white short sleeve shirt. I hope it says I'm ready to be professional, but I wasn't trying to go overboard impressing someone.

Weekend plans: it is tax free weekend. I am going to the Gap and spending big bucks with my 30% off coupon...thanks Camille and then buying the new Harry Potter and reading it until I finish. I am hoping that those two plans will help me survive my first weekend by myself.