I just realized that April Fool’s Day is tomorrow. That means it’s not on a school day! Thank god.
I’m wrapping up the month by watching the women’s Final Four games, with the men to come tomorrow. College basketball helps me get through March every year!
As March winds down, I spent 2 hours tonight commenting on my students’ final blog posts for the Slice of Life challenge. As usual, most of my students ended up really enjoying the assignment. I will survey them early next week for some more reflection, but the reviews so far are positive!
My students are also reflecting on the impending end of the school year. One more marking period to go!
On Tuesday, my daily attendance question for my seniors was an ad for Peeps x Pepsi and the prompt, “Thoughts?” This led to a lively conversation that resulted in me saying I’d bring some in for us to try.
Well, they were very surprised today when I actually pulled out two cases of Peeps x Pepsi. 😂 We each got a 10oz can to try and the attendance question was a follow-up “thoughts?”
It was hysterical. Their quick reviews are fabulous, but this went on all afternoon. They were calling themselves the sommeliers of soda. They would randomly say out loud, “Why am I still drinking this?” They also pushed cans on unsuspecting teachers and classmates.
At the end of the period one of them said, “This is the second-best English class ever!” The best class, he clarified, was when we celebrated hygge-days during 9th grade.
(There was a method to the madness. Today we also read “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”. It’s one of the greatest short stories ever, but a bit of an existential downer!).
That’s a lot all the enthusiasm I can muster at this point in March. 🫠 It is the longest month of the school year and often has no breaks. This is a mo break year. Spring break doesn’t start for another week.
Do I have tickets go Taylor Swift’s Eras tour? I do not.
Did I allow this small fact to prevent me from ordering a sequined jacket to wear to the tour? Absolutely not.
Do I now need to double down on finding tickets? Yup.
Other than that, today was an average day until I got home from school. Then I had a million things to do! The dogs needed to be walked before Kells had an appointment at the vet. She got two shots and weighs 19 lbs. we got a few minutes at home where I cooked dinner. As I sat down to eat I realized Kells had her first puppy class that night and it started at 7:15, not 7:30! I raced to class and Kells loved it. Then she had her first puppy grooming!
I think this fuzzy video still is a pine warbler that briefly landed on the suet ball on my BirdBuddy. The AI didn’t catch it, so I spent way too much time using other AI, like Merlin’s app, to figure out who my little visitor was. The damn song sparrow chased it off and it didn’t return!
I should have immediately guessed it was a pine warbler, because I saw a flock at the park the other day! And according to Cornell’s Merlin app, “Occasionally visits feeders, especially for suet.” That jives!
March is almost over! My students can’t believe that Slice of Life ends this week. Back in February they moaned and groaned when I handed out the assignment, and they did not believe they could do this. Imagine their surprise when most of them reached this week without missing a day! A few even asked me if they could continue blogging after the assignment ends!
The month has also flown by for me. Kells starts puppy class this week, spring break is so close I can taste it, and the marking period is almost over. For teachers in the northeast we are almost 75% done with the year! One more marking period to go!
Today is my Dad’s birthday (and March is when all of my brothers celebrate their birthdays), so my mom had everyone over. As usual, my sister made an incredible cake.
In case it isn’t obvious, I clearly inherited my love of nature from my dad. This year’s cake celebrated his love of the local flying squirrels (who come when he falls and eat from his hands) and the foxes and coyotes he watches via trailcams.
The party also meant my nieces got to meet their new cousin, my nephew Keegan! It was a very cute first meeting. My nieces also had fun playing with Kells, who I brought for socialization. Kells was a doll and the girls are so good with her!
Once I got home I settled in to watch more tournament basketball; tonight’s games completed my bracket demolition. I do love the underdogs, though!
For the first time ever in NCAA men’s basketball tournament history, all four number 1 seeds are out! There will be no #1 seeds in the Elite Eight, Final Four, or national championship games. Absolutely wild! This is also only the fourth time the advent of the Sweet Sixteen that none of the basketball blue bloods – Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, UNC- have participated.
This is what the leaderboard in my bracket challenge looked like earlier tonight. Just redonkulous all around.
Apparently it’s National Puppy Day, so my social media has been full of dog pictures. I’m ok with that.
The headache I’ve had all day is not fun, though. I’m pretty sure it’s due to the change in atmospheric pressure, but that doesn’t make my head hurt less. Ugh.
My day:
School
Oversee GSA meeting during the second half of lunch.
Teach three periods (all of which were in different spots in my lesson plans).
Happy spring! Today it was 60° and sunny. The sky was blue and the breeze was cool. After work I took the dogs for a meandering walk at a local park and allowed them to just sniff and watch things. Did you know sniffing is often more exhausting for dogs than physical exercise? Dogs have more smell receptors than humans and spending time sniffing the world around them decreases their heart rate and relaxes them. We often rush dogs through walks, but slowing down is so good for us and them.
On our walk I saw blue birds and sparrows hopping from branch to branch. There were spring peepers singing in the vernal ponds. The daffodils were in bloom buds are popping! Happy spring!
The Reading Zone 