A student staged a fake proposal--- and other musings from the classroom.

** I was grading book reports this morning and came across this gem of a summary of The Jungle Book:

"Mogile had to license for hours then the panther jumped out and waked all the banger-log, hold on brother and bolo came out and got all the banger-log away from Mogile came out of the opining and Kaa the seven foot python struck and the bander-long, the monkey are afraid of the snake."

I don't even know where to begin trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

** Nate sent me flowers last week and they were delivered during fourth period. It also happened to be my rowdiest class. The flowers got them all sorts of off track and led to many questions about who sent the flowers, if I had a boyfriend, etc. Well--- fast forward a week. I was waiting for a couple students to finish their assignment at the end of class and one boy, who is a royal pain in my behind and who doesn't give a dang about school, started a conversation with me:

Him: So, Miss Koster. Are you going to get married? Are you engaged?
Me: Nope, I'm not engaged.
Him: Well do you want to get married?
Me: Of course I do.
Him: Well do you want to get engaged?
Me: Yep!
Him: Do you want to get engaged to the boy who sent you flowers?
Me: (probably blushing a bit...) Haha. Um, we'll see!
Him: So that's a yes!
Me: Haha. Time will tell!

Then another student chimes in:
Student: Hey! Have you heard of Sheri Dew?
Me: I have!
Student: Did you know she has never been married?
Me: I did know that. 
First Student: Who's that?
Me: She's an LDS speaker.
Student: Yeah. My mom listens to her.
Me: Cool. 
First Student: I listen to Eminem.

I didn't even know how to connect the two people. Thankfully the bell rang and they were out the door.

** Also in that same class period, a student staged a fake proposal. To me. Here's how it all went down:

I was giving the class instructions for their assignment and ended by asking if anyone had any questions about what to do. One student raised his hand. I called on him only to see him get down on one knee with a little black box in his hand.

Him: Miss Koster. I have a question.
-- I was totally speechless. I had NO idea what he was up to.
Him: Will you please... (long pause as he flipped the box open) take this from me? I have no idea what it is!

At that point, I lost it. He was blushing, I was blushing, and the whole class was in an uproar. It was hilarious. I took the box from him and examined it and discovered it was cello rosin. I told him I wasn't sure what he was doing and if I was going to have to report anything to the boy who sent me flowers.

This then began a long line of questions about if I had ever had a student actually propose to me and what I would say if that ever did happen (BTW-- the answer is NO. Just so we're clear.). After about ten minutes of the class being sidetracked, I finally got them back on track and working. It was by far one of the funniest moments of my teaching career.

** It's times like these that make me so grateful for my students. They make me crazy some days, but more often than not, they make me laugh. And when they do, it helps me remember why I do what I do and how much I love my job and my kids. If I ever have to leave the teaching profession-- or even my school-- it's going to be one of the hardest things I will ever do. I'm glad I chose a career that I love and have a passion for. It makes going to work every morning at 7 am not quite so bad. :)

Peace Out, 2013

2013 was quite a year. It flew by faster than any other year so far. It seems like time is moving faster and faster. Hopefully 2014 slows down a bit. As is tradition, here is a quick recap of this past year and all the wonderful things that happened:

- Nearly froze to death in the frigid single digit temps we had all of January.

- Took a few days off of work to watch Emmett so Kelsey could fly to Chicago for Riley's boot camp graduation.

- Turned 29. 

- Finally got to see my cousin Wes when he got home from his mission.

- Spent Spring Break in St. George with my mom, dad, and Skyler. 

- Finally visited Zion National Park.

- Had a crazy sewing bug, so I made an entire quilt in one weekend.

- Ate my weight (and maybe more) in fresh peas from the garden. I seriously live for June every year.

- Studied my brains out for and took the Praxis II.

- Passed said test and officially upgraded my teaching license to a level 2 license. 

- Finally joined the iPhone world. I LOVE it.

- Spent two weeks in July teaching a program for gifted and talented elementary school kids. And I became very grateful that I chose secondary education as my field.

- Our family was finally all together again when Riley came home from Navy training.

- Spent the first week of August in Denver helping my friend Jill with her kids after she had hip surgery.

-Finally went camping for the first time in ten years. It was magical.

- Started my FIFTH year of teaching. Still can't believe I'm that far in already.

- Spent four days in California with my family. My cousin Eric got married, so a bunch of us headed down to celebrate. 

- Finally got to go inside the San Diego Temple. Oh. My. Gorgeous.

- Took another day or two off work to play with Emmett again so Kelsey and Riley could venture to Denver for a Sox game.

- Made it to 2 BYU football games.

- Discovered that all my time in the sun has started to cause damage. I had the first of what I'm sure will be many precancerous moles removed.

- Watched my incredibly talented students put on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

- Celebrated with my family the day Nicole and Chaz finally got to adopt a sweet baby girl.

- Ate waaaaayyy too much food on Thanksgiving.

- Took a chance on a dating app. Said chance paid off. :) I was lucky enough to meet Nate, and I'm learning what it takes to do a long distance relationship. Wish me luck, folks. :)

- Learned how to time the basketball games at school. Nearly messed things up quite royally.

- Spent Christmas Eve sick as could be--- complete with a fever, chills, and general feeling of death.

- Spent more time than I can count with my family and friends, realized just how richly I have been blessed, and have learned more about my capabilities and who I am than ever before. 

I can only imagine that 2014 is going to be even better than 2013 was. I'm excited for what is in store for me. It'll be a good year.... even if I am turning 30 in March. :)