What Every Teacher Wants to Hear...

"I love Hunger Games. But I love Miss Koster more."

This is a big deal. I think I have arrived. (This was written by a girl who eats, drinks, and breathes Hunger Games at the moment.)

But really, the best part of this? She loves a book. My job is done.

Why I Love Teaching Seventh Grade

Many  Most 7th graders don't have a filter, and some of them just quite haven't figured out some social norms. This makes every day entertaining and I can never predict what they will say or do. With the change I recently made to full time, I have acquired several more students. Having over 200 students greatly increases the chances that one or more of them will do something a little quirky, totally out of the blue, or just plain funny. Just this week, I have witnessed or heard the following:

- Lime green velvet pants. Oh, and they were zebra striped.

- A sweet boy dancing around the hall ballerina style while waiting for me to unlock my door. As far as he was concerned, he was the only person in that hallway.

- One girl brought her old school type writer with her to class today. Not because we were going to be writing any thing. Not because she was using it as a prop for something. Just because she wanted to bring it. I think it weighs as much as she does. It was quite the sight to see her lugging it around. And then she stored it in my room. And forgot to come back for it.

- A boy came running into class and said, "Miss Koster! I had the worst dream ever last night!" When asked what it was about, he responded, "I had a dream that Mrs. J really did retire and that you really are my new teacher." Me: Pause. "Um, I'm sorry, but your dream is true. She did retire and I am your new teacher." Him: "Oh. Really? Like you mean she's never coming back?" Me: "Yeah. She's not coming back. I'm sorry." (Thank you, good sir. It's a good thing I have enough confidence in myself and don't need the approval of a 12 year old.)

- Two girls were done with their essays and were playing an online horse trading game. They "purchase" and create pet horses for their collection. Apparently it's quite a big deal to those involved. I heard lines like, "Unicorns are very rare.", "Oh! Pax is a uni-reject!" (NO clue what that means), and "So how is Striking Beauty doing?" I still have no idea what this horse thing is about, but they were rather excited about it.

- Three very easily distracted boys, as they were supposed to be working on their essays, stopped me and said, "Hey, Miss Koster, do you have a boyfriend?" Me: "Maybe." Boys: "Come on! Just tell us!" Me: "Why does it matter if I do?" Boys: "Oh! That means you do!" Me: "What are you going to do about it if I tell you I do have one?" Boys: "We're going to go find him!" Me: "Haha, good luck with that. We're not even in the same country right now." Boys: "Oooooooh!" followed by giggles.

- One of my classes entered a writing contest which required them to make multiple copies of their essays. I asked the class who needed to make the additional copies. Five or six raised their hands. Feeling like I couldn't send them down to the lab by themselves (and the rest of the class needing to get some energy out), the entire class took a field trip to the lab. As I was walking around, I noticed that two of the boys who had initially raised their hands were playing games. I asked them if they finished printing. Their response, "Oh. Well, we never even had to print anything. We just raised our hands so we would have a better chance of coming down here." Really, boys? Really? Sneaky 7th graders: 1, Miss Koster: 0.


Don't you wish you had a job as entertaining as mine?

*Note: These stories are not posted to mock or in any way make fun of my students. I just thought they were funny and wanted to document them! :)

Out With the Old, In With the New

Am I the only one who can't believe that we are already to the end of another year? Here's a quick recap of my crazy goings on and shennanigans this year.

I turned 27

Had a crazy adventure with Marianne while getting to and from Omaha, NE for Spring Break

Welcomed my new nephew, Emmett

Went to Women's Conference for the first time

Had several Just Dance parties

Saw cute lil' David Archie at the Stadium of Fire

Anxiously awaited the release of Harry Potter 7.2

Saw HP 7.2

A few trips to 7 Peaks

Saw AIDA with Mike

Took Skyler to the Storytelling Festival

Celebrated Labor Day at the family cabin

Went to California with my family

Halloween Party

5K/Mile Fun Run to support my cousin's Eagle Project

Thanksgiving with my family

Ended the year by getting a full time position at my school

A rockin' Christmas party with my closest friends
Christmas with my family and friends

Other notable events included going on several dates--- some not so great, but enough really good ones to balance it all out, lots of craft projects, lots of late nights chatting and laughing, I read more books than I can count, and I spent lots of time with those I love most. 

2011 was a great year, and I have a gumption that 2012 will be just as good, if not better.

Merry Christmas to Me.

A while ago, a lovely young lady graduated with her Bachelor's Degree in English Education. Wanting to use her degree, she began the job search and interview process. Unfortunately, a gazillion other people were doing the same thing and full time work was hard to come by. Luckily, she was able to land an hourly teaching position. She came to love the people she worked with, and came to love the students at the school just as much. Thankfully, she was able to continue teaching part time this school year.

One of her favorite coworkers decided that she would be retiring midway through this year. This opened up a great opportunity for this awesome little teacher. But... legalities made it so that she couldn't just slide into the position. Once the job was posted, she quickly applied. And then she waited. And waited. Finally, they called her for an interview. And guess what? She wooed them with her wit and charm and will now be teaching full time!

Woohoo! This job couldn't have come at a better time and I'm so ready to step in. I hit the ground running right after Christmas break, and I couldn't be more excited about it.

BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

Gratitude

Since it's Thanksgiving, and I have some free time, I thought I'd post a few things I am especially grateful for right now.

My family and the fun we have together.

My sisters. I am thankful for the close relationship I have with both of them. They are both incredible girls.

Friends. I love hanging out with these ladies. I love that they appreciate celebrations and parties as much as I do

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While my list of things I am thankful for is quite a bit longer, these three are at the top of my list. I'm so glad I am surrounded by so many good people. It sure makes life more fun.

Southern California Adventures

My awesome parents decided to take the whole family to Southern California for Fall Break this year. It was a blast, and I loved every minute of it! We spent a day at the beach at Dana Point, explored California Adventure, and then played at Disneyland. It had been years since we had been on a vacation as a family, and it was fun to just be together and have fun. 

 Me and Nicole on the beach

 Me and Kelsey

 Me, Mia, and Emmett

 My favorite little brother

 (he didn't even protest at the request to take a picture with me!)

 Waiting in line for Soarin' Over California

 Fam Pic at the beach

 Can't go to Disneyland without taking a picture by the Mickey face

 We got stuck on Thunder Mountain Railroad. See the fear on our faces? Someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to stand up while the ride was going. Apparently he didn't think of the repercussions of such a decision. The entire ride was shut down and everyone had to be escorted out. Awesome.

 Mia wasn't interested in taking a picture with me. I took one anyway.

Emmett was my car buddy. It made for excellent bonding time. 

The time flew by too fast, and it was hard to go back to work after such a nice break, but I am so glad we all were able to go. We even got to meet up with Scott & Melinda and their kids at both parks and ride some of the rides with them. We learned that Fast Passes and Parent Swap passes are the best way to go. The longest line we waited in was about 40 minutes (and that's because we didn't have Fast Passes for that one). Not too shabby. It was a fun trip and I can't wait to do it again sometime! 

Thanks, mom and dad!

You can see more pictures and read more about it here and here. 

Top Dog 5K Race

My cute little cousin Nathan is doing his Eagle Project next month. He's decided that he'd like to put on a 5K run to raise money to help the police department purchase bullet proof vests for their K-9 units. Check out the website here to read more information about the race and to register! :)

Couldn't Have Said it Better

Found this little gem here

A Little Misinterpretation...

I asked my Creative Writing students to write a short story about a beaver and a fox. One student, apparently love-struck and obsessed, took it as "Write a story about Bieber and a fox".

Apparently she has other things on her mind...

Recent Events

Labor Day this year was pretty low-key, but the days leading up to it were filled with lots of fun things. I was lucky enough to get hold of some tickets to the Storytelling Festival, so I (or my mom) convinced Skyler to go up with me for a little bit. It was my first time going, and it was really fun! That afternoon, we watched the BYU game and just relaxed the rest of the day. For dinner on Sunday, my family headed up to our family cabin to eat and enjoy some time with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. 'Twas a lovely evening!
And since I don't post on here all that often, here is some pictoral evidence of the previously mentioned events!

 Me and Skyler

 I made football shaped Rice Krispie Treats for the game! :)

Emmett, Kelsey, Me, and Nicole at the cabin

 

My sisters are the best. I'm lucky to have them!

When I came home from the cabin, I was greeted by a ginormous (the thing was the size of a quarter with it's legs out) black widow just outside my front door. Not willing to share my home with her, I grabbed the spider spray and promptly took care of things. I did take a picture of it, but it's disgusting and gives me the heebie-jeebies, so I won't post it. I was rather proud of myself, though, for dealing with it without screaming. Spiders are not my favorite, but I wasn't going to just let this one go.

And last, but certainly not least, head on over to my amazing friend's (and hair stylist) hair blog! She gives great tips, has fun tutorials, and even has a giveaway going on now! You can check out what services she offers, see pictures of her work, and learn so much about hair all in one spot! You can check out Julie's work here.